RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) announced on Tuesday that The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) men's tennis student-athletes Emilien Burnel and Sam Whitehead are the TicketSmarter WAC Men's Tennis Doubles Players of the Week. 
 
Burnel, a junior, and Whitehead, a sophomore, went 2-0 playing as UTRGV's No. 1 duo. They defeated Daniel Matheu Baldor and Alvaro Soler from St. Mary's 6-2 and cruised to a 6-1 victory against UT Tyler's NCAA Division II sixth-ranked doubles team of Joaquin Bianchi and Gonzalo Fernandez Gil. Burnel/Whitehead were competing well against SMU's No. 1 duo Pranav Kumar/Adam Neff, but the match went unfinished with the score tied 5-5 when SMU claimed the doubles point. 
 
Burnel also paired with sophomore Borna Devald to defeat Oral Roberts' Ignacio Vinas/Ezequiel Monferrer 7-6 (3) in the No. 1 flight. This is the third time Burnel has been recognized with a TicketSmarter WAC Tennis Award in the 2022-23 season and the first of Whitehead's UTRGV career. Burnel/Whitehead are 2-0 in dual matches and 4-1 overall as a duo. 
 
The Vaqueros host Lamar on Friday at 10 a.m. at the Orville Cox Tennis Center.

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